Have you contemplated what it really means to be or have a friend lately or is it just another common word used without much depth of thought? Have you pondered what it means to be a friend to the body of Christ?
The word friend usually holds little or ordinary value until we are in need of one. Need is a curious thing and if we haven’t been friendly we might find ourselves empty handed. Friendship is funny that way and closely relates itself to principles of reaping and sewing.
Born for Adversity
The Bible is clear about friends and friendship, stating emphatically that a friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity. Born for adversity…now hold on, I signed on for coffee at Starbucks.
What is adversity anyway? It is hardship, difficulty, danger; unfavorable experiences and yes even great suffering just too mention a few.
Suffering…danger…uh difficulty…wait just a minute people, I signed on for the easy kind of friendship, one not prone to lay its life down and after all everyone is way too busy for the hard stuff anyway. Befriend a community in suffering…let me see…what am I doing that day…I am sure I had something planned. I have thought this way. Have you? Jesus, please have mercy on us.
Can you see yourself in the above scenario just a little bit? I can. How many times have I wanted a friend who did not judge…a friend who was there when I needed them…one who offered love and did not act like those who shared their opinions with Job?
Looking at my life, I would say a lot. This need in my life begs me to ask myself what kind of friend I have been to those around me and the body of Christ in my city or at large?
True Friendship
Often we think of friendship when we want to step out for lunch after church, have a cup of coffee or a morning chat on the phone. And for the most part we often confuse acquaintance with friendship. True friendship requires communication…intimacy, time and a non-judgmental heart.
However, the idea of having a friend takes on new meaning when, when the yuck and messiness of life come to the forefront. It is not our acquaintances for the most part we look to. It is our friends.
Jesus gives us a life and death example of true friendship. And he no longer calls us servants for a servant doesn’t know what the master is doing. A servant is an acquaintance in some respects and does not have intimate knowledge of the inter working of their master’s heart.
Jesus stepped into the shoes we would have to wear because of the fall…He stepped into the shoes of hell, death and the grave so we wouldn’t have to. He carried our sin so we could be free. He took our heavy burdens so we could have His light one. He does not condemn or judge us but washes us with the cleansing of the water of the Word and His mercy triumphs over judgment. Does this sound like me…like you? I pray so.
His example is the true heart of a friend who lays his life down for another. He is our example to follow. There is more to say than time or words allow but when it comes to friendship let me leave you with a couple thoughts and as I do take some time to contemplate your own power as a friend to someone in need…your own commitment to the body of Christ in your city.
Are You Like Elastic?
Consider this; friendship is elastic like in nature and has the ability to expand and stretch itself around anything that comes its way giving no matter to race, economic standing, denomination and sees the church as the body of Christ without respect to person or condition.
How elastic are you as you embrace others in your family, life, job, church, and city?
Are You Humble?
What kind of friend are you in times of adversity and warfare? Often how you treat those closest to you reflects how you treat the body at large. So, when reflecting on the meaning of friendship, individually and locally keep in mind the definition of humility…my definition anyway.
True humility comes from the awareness of one’s own lack of superiority and acknowledgment of apparent weaknesses, leading to the submission of one’s own self to the service of others without judgment.
Keep all this in mind and be a friend to the body of Christ in your family, your job, the the church at large…in your city. In doing this, one by one transformation will come.
In days to come we will be discussing more about friendship on a personal level as we delve deeper into the Word and the heart of God.
Brenda Craig © 2008